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Comments & Concerns...

Sep 24, 2009

***Editor's Note: Below are viewer comments generated by the September 19-20, 2009 edition of U.S. Farm Report...

Hi guys,
Just letting you guys know about the good work that you do every week and everyday with the US Farm Report and AgDay. I have become a very faithful viewer of both the shows since there is nothing like this in Southern Ontario anymore. Since our provincial government doesn't know that there is life outside of Toronto and that this province has a good farming sector and some really good land in the province cut backs all around have made ag shows like yours obsolite in Ontario. Farming is a great way to make a living and most of the stuff that goes on in this province basically is dependant on what happens south of the border. May as well get rid of the border and just let us Canadian farmers join up with our neighbours to the south.
Thanks,
Allen DeVos

Dear Sirs:
You have a very informative show, which I appreciate. Farmers make their money from the land and city folks like me make a living building ag implements.
In 1980 when we instituted the Russian grain embargo, my livelihood along with a lot of other folks went up in smoke.
In the years since, it doesn't seem like we've learned much. Even to the casual observer, a trade war with China is unavoidable. The results for farmers and ag related industries will be disastrous.
Our government hasn't run a trade surplus in 40 years and it just gets worse. Warren Buffet said these trade deficits over time will hurt us bad.....and he's right. We cannot continue with large trade deficits particularly in regard to China. They already have too much leverage from their $ denominated holdings and are getting nervous. There's no end in sight except for some sort of severe economic mishap.Trade imbalances that we should have controlled years ago are now out of control.
Consider the amount of ag goods China purchases and it will look like the Russian grain embargo all over again. The basic problem is that US citizens think nothing of the government books and totally focus on their own wallet.....and that threatens the whole system. It's personal greed and we've got it bad.
Robert Blain
Cedar Fall, IA

Dear Folks at the US Farm Report Show,

I'm another non-farmer who is a fan of the show. I watch to see what I can learn about the situation with food in America. I've heard on other shows how we, the consumers, should buy local, and many of us have farmers' markets available once a week close by in our neighborhoods.

But some of us want to know our local farmers so we can create a direct relationship for buying a certain kind of produce. I make a fine pesto sauce for friends and family. I need a way to find a local supplier to grow a small amount of basil for my pesto production season. I've recently located inside city limits where the growing space is not available. Help!

Dorothy Hawkins
Middleton, WI

I tune in to RFDTV more now than ever. The economy is in a tailspin and I get really tired of the politics of this situation. The comments on the Farm Report this morning struck a nerve about how the United Steel Workers are going to hurt farmers on prices for tractor tires. Unionworkers get blamed for things that we can't control. When the tire companies go overseas they don't pass the savings on to the customer, Those saving become bounses for upper management. I worked for Chrysler in Huntsville, Alabama for 31 years. We built all of the electronics that went into their vehicles. Yes I am still a United Autoworkers member. I am not very happy how our how our union is now in the pocket of management. The workforce is no longer their priority. When I first went to work there I could not get over how unorganized and wasteful the company was. Along came the Japanese operating program, Modern Operating Agreement, in 1985. This was a very good program for the worker and management. Inventories went to just-in-time, assembly times improved because of worker input, everybody benefited from expenses being reduced and wages increasing from the hard work of all employees working to produce a affordable car/truck at a decent price. Did you know Chrysler had the most efficient build/cost rate per vehicle? Have you priced a diesel heavy duty truck lately? $50 to $60,000 is way to high considering the cost cutting that is in place. My point is that unionworkers are some of the most hardworking people around. We are just tired of losing benefits, wages, working crazy shift hours that reduce overtime, we have to work lots of overtime, yes overtime is manditory, because management will pay benefits on one employee instead of hiring more workers. The last two years I worked were 12 hours a day, 8 on Saturday and Sunday, because they sold our plant to Siemens. I stayed with Chrysler as I was so close to retirement. I am sorry I am rattling on. No one want to look at the real problem with America right now. Keep People working. Stop sending work overseas. The CEO's reap huge profits from lower costs and don't pass these on to the consumer. Greed is running rampant. Don't blame us. We are doing our part. We believe enough is enough. Thanks for letting me rant. I am very concerned about our future. We are no longer the rock solid country we used to be.
Deborah Carroll Nicholas

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Anonymous9/21/2009 05:51 AM

"My point is that unionworkers are some of the most hardworking people around." Well, Ok, that has not been my experience at a large unionized institution.
"We are just tired of losing benefits, wages, working crazy shift hours that reduce overtime,..." Really! What is the average wage of an high school educated united auto worker vs a high school educated worker in another non-union job? Don't get me wrong the CEO's are criminals, BUT don't cry me a river when for 30+ years the unions have pushed more and more for workers who do less and less.
You complain of overtime being reduced and then complain about working manditory overtime? here is a news flash, so brace yourself. You priced yourself out of a job! Shocking isn't it! Think of it in these terms. Let's say you wanted to build an addition on your house and group A was 30% cheaper than group B yet the same product result was produced. What would you do? .......and then you expect the management to let the union workers to get paid more to do what?

Anonymous9/21/2009 07:39 PM

11:51: You are absolutely right. It is the unions that are driving the work out. Here in the state of Vermont. The Union would not deal with the governor and so he is going to lay off many of the state workers.